The Opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the issue of Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe (CoE), whose rapporteur is the head of the Greek delegation to the PACE, Dora Bakoyannis, was approved by a majority of the PACE Plenary yesterday.
According to a statement by the House of Representatives, during PACE’s 2nd 2024 Session, 131 Members voted in favour of the Opinion, while 29 Members voted against it and 11 Members abstained, with the members of the Cypriot delegation, George Loucaides and Christiana Erotokritou, voting against the Opinion.
As stated, in his intervention during the debate, Loucaides said that the positive recommendation by PACE for the accession of Kosovo to the CoE essentially makes it easier for the competent body, namely the Committee of Ministers, to take the final decision, while opposing at the same time the positive recommendation, arguing that the accession of Kosovo to the Organization does not serve the goal of peace, stability and se
curity in the Western Balkans, but on the contrary, such a development could potentially trigger further tension and lead to the rise of nationalism in this particularly troubled region.
It is added that he also noted that the points highlighted in the Opinion, as well as in other recommendations of the organisation regarding Kosovo’s shortcomings on a number of issues, including the non-establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, the failure to regulate property expropriations as foreseen in the Ahtisaari Plan and the insufficient progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, should have been resolved before the membership request was considered, in order to provide an incentive to accelerate the necessary reforms and resolve the outstanding issues.
As a key reason for his opposition to the acceptance of Kosovo’s request for CoE membership, Loucaides mentioned the risk of setting a negative precedent as other illegal secessionist entities may seek international recognition. We must, he stressed,
defend in all cases the international legitimacy, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states.
For her part, Erotokritou is quoted to have underlined in her remarks as a matter of principle that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of internationally recognized states should never be compromised and warned that accepting the inclusion in the CoE of entities that have unilaterally declared independence and are not members of the United Nations creates a dangerous precedent, especially in today’s highly unstable international environment.
While acknowledging that the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo on the Visoki Decani Monastery is a positive step, the Cypriot MP pointed out that key issues are still pending, such as the regulation of land expropriation cases by the authorities in Kosovo, the creation of the Association of Serb Municipalities and ensuring respect for the rights of minorities.
Finally, she noted that the ex-post monitoring of Kosovo
by PACE on issues related to democratic institutions, human rights and the rule of law will become a much more difficult and time-consuming task after accession.
Source: Cyprus News Agency